ruedt



March 30 1926.

J. c. RUEDT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed March 15, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 4&

2'2 V 72 ,1 0 P if V Zr) 25 J 2 J5 0 G if jzu@r0Z'0 March 30 1926.

' v 1,578,372 I J. c. RUEDT HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 15, 1924 Patented Mar. 1926.

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' Application filed amen 15, 1924. Serial No. 699,430.

Among the primary objects of the im vention may be enumerated the production 1 of the complete equivalent ofthe fullfashioned stocking at resent in general use,

without the use of t e cumbrousand -ex-.

pensive flat bed. machines for knitting. the

same. Another object is to produce a blank for such a stocking ina single automatic operation, containin all the fabric necessary to form the finishe article and no excess fabrlc beyond that necessarily allowed for seamin I Further ob'ects and. advantages of the invention wil become'apparent as the description proceeds. In the accompanying draw as it comes from the machine, spread out flat except for the heel loops;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the foot portion only after the heel 100 s have been cut; Fig. 3 illustrates t e third step of the process; l

Fig. 4 illustrates the fourth step of sewing the sole and toe and the ends of the long heel flaps;

Fig. 5 illustrates the fifth operation of seaming the entire stocking;

Fig. 6 illustrates the sixth operation of rounding the heel;

Fig. 7 shows the finished stocking; and

Fig. 8 is a diagram of the needles n the needle cylinder.

In the production of a blank accordln to the invention, I begin at the toe wit a minimum number of stitches, and add stitches progressively at irregular intervals to shape or fashion the-blank, without at any time being under the necessit of dro ping stitches or narrowing e bla While knitting the heel strips, part of the Iggs Fig. 1 is a plan view of the nished blank needles inthe middle of the blank are held .Out of operation, but they. retain their loops and continue knitting after the formation ofv the heel strips, so that this part of the "blank is .formed simply by making some of the wales of greater length than others,

.without narrowing of the fabric at any time. The result is a tapered blank, with selvaged' edges throughout, both edges of the heel strips being selvaged, so that the finished blank can be freely handled without dangerof raveling.

\ Referring first to Figs. 1 .and 8, I set up the'blank with the width from A to B, and knit a short tab. 10 of constant width. Immediately thereafter I widen at a relatively rapid rate to points C'-D, and sub sequently at a slower rate to points EF.

-Throughout this portion of the "knitting I preferably employ two threads, amain thread, and a reinforcing or splicing thread to form a fabric of reater thickness than the main ortion o the blank. 'I next proceed to orm the foot portion,comprising an instep portion 12 of' single thickness,

and side portions 14 of extra weight, produced by taking twothreads on the needles from E to G and from H to F. This continues up to point 16, atwhich point.

I widen by the addition of just a few more stitches at the edge of the fabric, ending the foot portion proper with fabric extending from I to J, with the reinforced extending from I to G and from H to J.

I now throw out of action all the needles except those between L and J, and on these alone, using two threads, I knit aloose course 17, a short flap 18, a single loose course 20,

and a long flap 22. All the needles are now thrown into action once across, bringing the free end of strip 22 back and uniting it at L with the base of lap 18. On the return movement, all the needles from K to J are thrown out of action, leaving only those from I to K. I now knit a loose course 23, a short flap 24 duplicating flap 18, a single loose course 26 and a long flap 28 duplicating flap 22. It will be apparent that these flaps will have selvaged edges throughout.

All the needles are now thrown into action,

and the back of the heel is formed. While a satisfa'ctory article might be produced by usin two threads in this portion .of the bla on needles from E to G and from H to F, I prefer to make the reinforce slightly wider, from I to M and J toN, as clearly in-' dicated in'the drawings. After knittmg up to the level indicated at 30, I again change the width of the reinforce from I to O and from P to J toform a narrow splice portion 32 on each edge of the blank. Above portion 32 I form the entire fabric with a single thread, and add stitches, a few at a time, symmetrically on opposite sides of the blank, as at 34, 36 and 38, to produce a fashioned calf portion. I also prefer to widen the blank again slightly at 40 above the knee, to produce a better fitting article. The width of the fabric after widening for the calf is indicated in Fig. 8 by the distance from Q, to R,'and at the top of the blank by the dis tance from S to T. The needles 41 arcindicated only. In practice the actual number of needles is much greater than shown on the drawlng.

Fig. 3 and comprises seammg the selvaged The blank above described may be readily produced on any one of several well known types of knitting machines provided'with suitable mechanism for adding needles and inserting the reinforcing thread, and set up,

with the necessary pattern chain and cam controls for automatically performing the operations above set'forth. U. S. Patents 1,148,055, July 27, 1915, and 1,152,850, September 7, 1915, both issued to R. \V. Scott,

illustrate one type of machine suitable for this work. As those skilled in' the art can readily set up. the type of machine exemplified in the above patents, or some other type, to produce the blank illustrated in Fig. 1, this specification has not been encumbered with the details of construction of a machine for knitting such a blank.

The next step in. the process is indicated in Fig. 2, and comprises simply cutting the fabric along the loose courses 20 and 26 to separate flaps 18 and 24 from flaps 22 and 28. The next step in the process is indicated in inner edge of flap 22 across the end of flap 18, a good portion of flap 18-being cut otf and thrown away in the process, substantially down to loose course 17.

The next step is indicated in Fig. 4, which is a bottom plan view of the foot portion. The ends of flaps 22 and 28 have been seamed together at 42 to close the heel ocket, and the toe pocket has also been ormed in theusual way by turning in the fabric at the end and seaming at 44. Itwill be noted that all the fabric seen in Fig. 4 is reinforced, the sole of the foot being formed by the reinforced portions 14..

The next step is to scam the entire blank as shown in Fig. 5, beginning at 46 and running past the heel and up the selvaged edges at the back to the top of the blank. This is followed in Fig. 6 by rounding off and trim mingthe heel pocket at 48', after which the It will be apparent that in the finished stocking all the wales of the leg portion run parallel to the front edge of the stocking when folded fiat, as in Fig. 7, that the blank can readily be produced ly entirely automatic operation, and that a 1 portions thereof, includin the strips necessary for forming the heel pocket, have selvaged edges throughout, so that the blank can be freely handled without fear-of raveling the same. In appearance and accuracy of fit, the product is fully equal to that produced. at pres'ent'on the Cotton type of machine, and as the individual loops have not been pulled and stretched by transfer po1nts,,in narrowing the fabric, it is bettercthan the product of the Cotton machine with respect to strength and serviceability.

\Vithout further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully explain the gist of my invention, that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service, without eliminating certain features which may properly be said to constitute the essential items of novelty involved, which items are intended to be defined and secured to me by the following claims.

I claim 1. The method /of knitting a stocking blank which comprises setting up the fabric as a narrow toe strip, widening at appro riate places to form a fashioned toe and oot portion, reinforcing the toe and the sides of the foot portion with an additional thread, interrupting all but a few needles at one side and knitting a narrow strip, uniting the end of said strip with the body to form a fabric loop by knitting clear across, interruptin all but a few needles at the other side and knitting another narrow-strip, uniting the end of said strip with the body by knitting clear across, reinforcing both strips throughout, knitting the ankle, calf and leg portions, and reinforcing the outer edges of the ankle portion part way up. i

2. The method of making a stocking which comprises forming a fashioned blank with selvaged edges in which all the wales run parallel to the center line of the blank and widening occurs by adding wales at the edges short portion coming up from the foot and a long portion coming down from the ankle, sewing the end of each short portion to the side of the adjacent long portion, sewing the ends of the long portions together, turning in the edges of the blank at the toe and short portion coming in the finished stockin sewingacross the end of the toe, sewing the edges of the blank together, and rounding off 'the heel corner.

which comprises forming a fashioned bla with selva ed edges in which all the wales run paralle to the center line of the blank and widening occurs by adding wales at the edges of the blank, forming two loops of extra length fabric in the'edg'es of the blan'k'at the heel portion, cutting each loop into a u from the foot and a long port-ion coming dbwn from the ankle, and sewing the end of each shortportion to the sides of the adjacent long portion to form the heel pocket.

.4. A'one piece blank shaped for forming a complete full fashioned stocking having the extra fabric for forming the heel pocket 20 provided in the form of strips of extra fab; ric in the edge portions 0 the blank, the

ends of said strips bein continuous with wales of the body, the ody between said edge portions bein said strips are doub ed into loops, .the toe, the edges of the foot portion, the loops and the edges of the ankle portion being reinforced with extra thread to form a reinforced toe, foot bottom, heel and heel splice being of predetermine different widths in '3.=The method of inaking a Setti .ric in-the edge continuous, whereby.

, said reinforcement ric in the edge portions of the-blank, the ends.

of said strips being continuous with wales of the body, the; body between said ed e portions being continuous, whereby sai strips are doubled into loops,.one course in each loop being knit loosetodefine a cutting line I dividing the loop into a-short flap coming up from the foot and a long flap coming down from the ankle; I

6. Acnepiece-blank shaped for forming a complete full fashioned stocking having theextra fabric for formin the heel pocket provided in the form of strips of extra fabrtions of the blank, one coursein each strip bein knit loose to define a cutting line dividingt e strip into a short flap coming up from the flap coming down from the ankle.

my name this 11th day of March, 1924.

JULIUS c; RUEDT.

foot and a long In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe 

